FERC: U.S. adds biomass power capacity in January

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has published its Energy Infrastructure Update for January, reporting that three new biomass power generation units were placed into service during the month.

According to FERC data, the three new biomass units have a combined capacity of 3 MW. In January 2012, the U.S. added 17 new biomass units with a combined capacity of 29 MW.

In addition to the biomass units, the report indicates one new wind unit with a capacity of 4 MW came online in January, along with three geothermal steam units with a combined capacity of 30 MW. The U.S. also added 13 solar units with a combined 287 MW of capacity during the month. No coal, natural gas, nuclear, oil, or hydropower units were brought online in January.

As of the close of January, the FERC estimates the U.S. is home to 15.79 gigawatts (GW) of biomass capacity, which equates to approximately 1.36 percent of all U.S. capacity. Of the non-hydro renewables, only wind has a larger share of U.S. electricity production capacity.

In 2013, the FERC reported that the U.S. added a total of 97 biomass power generation units. Together, those units had a combined capacity of 777 MW.